I think you’d have to have been living under a rock for the last few years to not have seen the viral outrage at the fact that Leonardio DiCaprio has never been awarded an Oscar. We, at The Edge, wanted to bring to your attention several other actors who also have been snubbed by the academy.
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L Jackson is a name synonymous with blockbuster box office revenues and engaging and entertaining performances. His filmography is varied and vast, and the 66 year old has starred in over 100 films in his career – He is one of those actors who you would expect to have won an Academy Award, but yet has not. In Pulp Fiction he gave an award winning performance, and several of his other roles seemed to have flown under the radar. The fact that he was not even nominated as best supporting actor for his performance in Django Unchained (2013) is puzzling, as his performance was nuanced and engaging, fully portraying the internal contradictions that comes from being the favoured slave in the deep South of America.
Gary Oldman
Veteran actor Oldman has managed to have a film career which includes fan favourite characters, such as Jim Gordan in Nolan’s Dark Knight franchise, and yet he has made plenty of film choices which would seem on the surface to be cherry picked for the Academy Awards – Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, and Beethoven in Immortal Beloved. In 2012 Oldman was nominated for his one and only Academy Award, for Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy and unfortunately lost out to style over substance (Jean Dujardin in The Artist). While he is still making several films a year, it appears that Oldman’s award worthy days are behind him, which seems a shame, given his chameleon like ability to immerse himself completely into a character.
Julianne Moore
The Kids Are Alright was undoubtedly one of Moore’s best performances, equaling Annette Benning’s (who was nominated for Best Actress in the 2010 awards) performance, and yet she was largely unrecognized for the role. With five Academy Award nominations to her name, Julianne Moore equals Leonardio DiCaprio’s (everyone’s favourite permanant nominee) record. Amongst many other accolades Moore was nominated as both Best Actress in a drama, and Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical at this years Golden Globe awards, and is only the forth person, and second actress ever to have won awards at Cannes, Berlin and Venice – all this comes together to paint the picture of an actress who is undoubtedly worthy of an Academy Award. This may change this year, however, given that Moore is the favourite to go on to win the award for her performance in Still Alice.
Amy Adams
Like DiCaprio and Moore, Amy Adams has been nominated for five Academy Awards and has yet to receive one. The fact that she missed out to co-star Melissa Leo for The Fighter in 2010 still feels unjust, as Adams gave a career defining performance. What is even more puzzling is the fact that she is missing from the nominations roster this year for her performance in Big Eyes. Whilst Adams may not have acted in hundreds of films, or be as far into her career as Oldman, Moore or Jackson, her almost back to back nominations since 2010 combine with her increasingly nuanced acting to suggest that Adams is an actress who is worthy of this big accolade.
